Read In Too Deep for Free Online

he listened. "Not something every kid learns," he murmured, dabbing on the antiseptic both of them pretended was needed. "Did you want to run away and join a circus?"
    "Nope." She smiled. "My mother and I stayed outside Paris for about a year. One of the other boarders was an acrobat. He gave me lessons in his spare time."
    "Have you used this unusual talent since?"
    She grinned, blue eyes filled with amusement. "There's not much call for acrobatics in my line of work."
    "Which is?" There was a fresh scratch on the back of her slender ankle. "Does this hurt?"
    "No—yes, a bit. I'm a translator."
    Michael applied antiseptic to the cut, then smoothed on an unnecessary Band-Aid. Her calf muscles were long and firm and led his gaze to her thighs, and beyond that to… Knock off this shit, Lieutenant . "Do much traveling?"
    "Not if I can help it." Her voice was dry as she shifted to allow the cat to step onto her bare legs. Green eyes stared at Michael unblinkingly, as if the animal were saying, "See? I'm where you want to be." The cat draped himself over Tally's thighs with a put-upon sigh.
    "I'm the proverbial homebody," Tally said, stroking Lucky's dense, black fur.
    A homebody who got blown off yachts, was covered in scrapes and bruises, and whose father just happened to be the meanest, most sadistic son of a bitch Michael had encountered. And in his occupation— former occupation—he'd run into the worst.
    "Where's home?" he asked, realizing that he'd been cupping the back of her calf while listening to her. He stroked his thumb rhythmically across the sweet curve at the back of her knee and watched with satisfaction as her eyes hazed.
    It took a moment for her to answer. "Chicago. What about you?"
    "You're sitting in it."
    A nomad. Tally mentally shook herself out of a sensual fog and almost sighed. It figured. The first man she'd been attracted to in years was just passing through.
    She relaxed against the thickly padded seat while Michael inspected her legs for injury, his breath warm on her shin. The feel of his slightly calloused hands on her skin was more arousing than it was soothing, but if he felt the same way he was much better at hiding it than she was.
    "This poor cat doesn't look too lucky to me," she said dreamily, enjoying the sensation of the cat's silky fur beneath her palm. Loving the feel of Michael's hands stroking her , Tally almost purred more loudly than the cat.
    "Are you kidding? He'd just used up his ninth life when I ran across him in a back alley in Hong Kong."
    And what, Tally mused, had Michael Wright been doing in a back alley in Hong Kong? "Not literally, I hope?"
    "Nah." Tally heard the smile in his voice. "Didn't bother him that he was cornered by the biggest, ugliest mutt in creation. He maneuvered just fine on three legs. Once we'd shown the dog who was boss, Lucky followed me back to the Nemesis . Been on board ever since."
    "Ah. I love a happy ending."
    "Not a lot of those around."
    "No, I guess not. But it's nice to believe in them. Arnaud and Lu could've used one." She ran her fingernails over the cat's head, across his back, and to the tip of his tail. The cat arched under her hand. "Thanks for rescuing me and giving me a shot at finding a happier ending than they got."
    "No thanks necessary. It's the law of the sea."
    "Is that anything like the code of the West?"
    His grin revealed even, white teeth. "Sort of. Speaking of the sea, what brings you all the way to Tahiti? Vacation?"
    "First in three years," Tally admitted, trying not to wince at the icy sting on a particularly raw spot on her left leg.
    He glanced up. "You're a workaholic?"
    "No. Well, maybe." She really, really needed to do something about her boring social life when she got back. Work had become a replacement for the family she so desperately wanted. How pathetic was that? "I enjoy my job, and usually let the employees with families take the best vacation weeks. Don't get me wrong—I'm not completely altruistic,